Major Highfield

Current

• Web Experience Analyst at ING DIRECT

Past

• Online Manager at delawareonline.com/The News Journal/Gannett
• Lead Web Producer/Developer at delawareonline.com/The News Journal/Gannett
• Graduate Student, New Media at Syracuse University

• Editorial Intern at Syracuse.com/Newhouse
• Web Producer at University of Alabama College of Communication
• Instructor at University of Alabama College of Communication
• Editor & Creative Director at DatelineAlabama.com
• Web Development Intern at E.W. Scripps Interactive Newspaper Group
• Reporter at Various Media Outlets

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6 more...

Education

• Syracuse University
• University of Alabama

Recommended

1 person has recommended Major

Connections

129 connections

Industry

Online Media

Websites

• ING DIRECT
• delawareonline.com
• Twitter

Major Highfield’s Summary

Designer/developer for news and information Web sites.

Currently working as Online Manager for delawareonline.com, the Web site of the Gannett-owned News Journal newspaper in Wilmington, Delaware. Duties include serving as lead designer/developer and managing production staff.

Major Highfield’s Specialties:

• Web Design/Development • Web Journalism • Usability • Web Standards • Web 2.0 • Dreamweaver • Flash • Photoshop • Office • Audio/Video Editing • FTP • Saxotech Online/Publicus CMS • Mactive/AdbaseE • Open AdStream • XHTML • DHTML • DOM • XML • RSS • CSS • AJAX • Javascript • Actionscript • MySQL • SQL Server • Access • Coldfusion • PHP • ASP.Net • C++ • Windows/Apple OS

Major Highfield’s Experience

• Web Experience Analyst

  ING DIRECT

  (Online Media industry)

  2008 — Present (1 year)

• Online Manager

  delawareonline.com/The News Journal/Gannett

  (Public Company; 10,001 or more employees; GCI; Newspapers industry)

  July 2007 — September 2008 (1 year 3 months)

• Lead Web Producer/Developer

  delawareonline.com/The News Journal/Gannett

  (Public Company; Online Media industry)

  July 2006 — July 2007 (1 year 1 month)

• Graduate Student, New Media

  Syracuse University

  (Educational Institution; Higher Education industry)

  July 2005 — July 2006 (1 year 1 month)

  • Built Coldfusion-based Web sites & CMSs
  • Developed XML-based Flash interactive stories & slideshows
  • Authored nationally recognized paper on newspaper podcasts

• Editorial Intern

  Syracuse.com/Newhouse

  (Public Company; Online Media industry)

  August 2005 — December 2005 (5 months)

  • Updated section fronts & video
  • Edited photos, wrote cutlines, built galleries
  • Provided technical support for Syracuse.com readers

• Web Producer

  University of Alabama College of Communication

  (Educational Institution; Online Media industry)

  January 2004 — June 2005 (1 year 6 months)

  • Founded partnership between journalism department & Tuscaloosa News
  • Converged TV station WVUA7, DatelineAlabama.com & TuscaloosaNews.com
  • Developed Web projects, blogs, community photo galleries, RSS feeds using Publicus Content Management System
  • Produced & designed Web magazine, DatelineAlabama.com
  • Edited & assigned stories, photos, audio, video
  • Created cover story illustrations, logos, galleries, DVDs, Flash slideshows

• Instructor

  University of Alabama College of Communication

  (Educational Institution; Online Media industry)

  January 2005 — June 2005 (6 months)

  • Taught Web journalism and multimedia courses within University of Alabama's College of Communication and Information Sciences.

• Editor & Creative Director

  DatelineAlabama.com

  (Educational Institution; Online Media industry)

  2002 — 2003 (1 year)

  • Awarded No. 1 national college news site in 2003 by Society of Professional Journalists
  • Produced SPJ award-winning packages
  • Doubled traffic
  • Edited stories, photos, multimedia nightly
  • Supervised staff of 20-plus students
  • Developed print edition

• Web Development Intern

  E.W. Scripps Interactive Newspaper Group

  (Public Company; Online Media industry)

  June 2002 — August 2002 (3 months)

  • Created Web packages for distribution across Scripps newspaper sites
  • Developed Scripps newspaper sites using Vignette CMS
  • Maintained & wrote best-practice stories for Scripps employees site

• Reporter

  Various Media Outlets

  (Newspapers industry)

  2000 — 2002 (2 years)

  • Wrote cover stories for A&E publication, The Planet Weekly
  • Covered features & entertainment, DatelineAlabama.com
  • SPJ national finalist for online feature writing
  • Entertainment reporter for campus newspaper, The Crimson White

Major Highfield’s Education

• Syracuse University

  Master's , New Media , 2005 — 2006

• University of Alabama

  Bachelor's , Journalism , 1999 — 2003

Additional Information

Major Highfield’s Websites:

• ING DIRECT
• delawareonline.com
• Twitter

Major Highfield’s Interests:

New Media, Web 2.0, Online Banking, Web Journalism, Web Design and Development, Usability & Simplicity, Exploring Philadelphia

Major Highfield’s Groups:

•    Online News Association
•    Syracuse University Alumni Network
•    Gannett
•    University of Alabama Alumni Group
•    Newhouse Alumni Network
•    ING DIRECT Network
•    Innovation in Journalism

Major Highfield’s Honors:

• 2007 Adventurer Leadership Award, The News Journal/delawareonline.com
• 2003 SPJ National Mark of Excellence Best All-Around Independent Online Student Publication, DatelineAlabama.com
• Three-time SPJ national finalist for top online news site, DatelineAlabama.com
• SPJ national winner for online spot news reporting
• SPJ regional finalist for online feature, in-depth, spot, general news reporting
• DatelineAlabama.com Founders' Award

Major Highfield’s Contact Settings

Interested In:

• career opportunities
• consulting offers
• new ventures
• job inquiries
• expertise requests
• business deals
• reference requests
• getting back in touch